Method and apparatus for entering a sealed enclosure



Nov. 28, 1967 P. c. TREXLER 3,

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENTERING A SEALED ENCLOSURE Filed Aug. 27, 1964s Sheets-Shet 1 Nov. 28, 1967 c TREXLER 3,355,230

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENTERING A SEALED ENCLOSURE Filed Aug. 27, 19643 Sheets-Sheet 2 z 7 u a Nov. 28, 1967 PJC. TREXLER METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR ENTERING A SEALED ENCLOSURE Filed Aug. 27, 1964 5 Sheets-$heet 3 0Jaw United States Patent Ofiice 3,355,230 METHGD AND APPARATUS FQRENTERING A SEALED ENCLOSURE Philip C. Trexler, Stoneham, Mass, assignorto Snyder Manufacturing Company, Inc., New Philadelphia, Qhio,

a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 392,391 12 Claims.(Cl. 3121) The present invention relates to a novel method and means forisolating one area from another while permitting access therebetween,and more specifically to a novel method and means for enabling a personto enter and leave an isolated area or room while preventingcontaminants from entering the room or area.

Numerous situations have arisen in medical, animal husbandry andindustrial fields in which it is desired to maintain a germ free orotherwise uncontaminated or controlled atmosphere within an enclosure orroom while at the same time enabling a man to enter and leave the roomand move about therein for performing various tasks. Proposals haveheretofore been made for enabling a person to enter and leave such aroom while preventing contamination of the room and even though certainof these proposals have represented substantial advances in the art,they have frequently involved complicated and expensive equipment andcumbersome and time-consuming procedures.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novelmethod and means for enabling a person to enter and leave, a sealedenclosure or room relatively easily and quickly while continuouslymaintaining the enclosure or room in a sealed condition and preventingcontaminants from being carried into the room.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide anovel method and means for enabling a person to enter a sealed enclosureor room and to move about freely within the room for the purpose ofperforming various tasks or for any desired reason and withoutcontaminating the interior of the enclosure or room.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide anovel method and means of the above-described type which may be carriedout and provided relatively economically.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide novelmeans of the above-described type by which presently availableenclosures or rooms may be readily adapted for use as sealed roomshaving sterile or otherwise controlled atmospheres,

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structure incorporating featuresof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken generally along lines2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 inFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a portion of the structure prior toassembly with complementary portions of the structure;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged fragmentary partial sectional views showingsuccessive steps in assembling the portion of the structure shown inFIG. 4 with the remainder of the structure during entry of a personwithin the chamber or room; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary partial sectional views showing successivesteps in the procedure followed by a person leaving the enclosure orroom.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts aredesignated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, astructure incorporating features 3,3552% Patented Nov. 28, 1967 of thepresent invention comprises an enclosure or room 19 shown in FIGS. 1 and2 and means 12 associated with the room for enabling a man to enter andleave the room while maintaining a room in a sealed or closed condition.The enclosure or room 10 may be specifically and specially constructedfor the purposes contemplated herein, and in certain instances it may bean existing room in a hospital or other building which is adapted forthe purposes contemplated herein. in any event, the room or enclosureiii is sealed except for an opening 1 through one wall 16 thereof and asterilized or otherwise controlled atmosphere is maintained therein.Suitable means 18 of known construction is associated with the room 19for supplying filtered and sterilized air to the room and additionalmeans 20, also of known construction is associated with the room forpermitting air to be exhausted from the room while preventing anexchange of contaminants between the interior and exterior of the room.

In general, the means 12 comprises a relatively large bag or envelopelike member 22 extending across and projecting outwardly from theopening 14, first and second complementary suit portions 24 and 26adapted to be worn by a person entering the room, and a bag-likeenclosure member 28 adapted to be utilized in the manner described fullybelow. The relatively large bag-like member 22 is conveniently andpreferably formed from plastic sheet material such as vinyl, and thesuit members 24 and 26 and the bag-like element 28 are formed from sheetmaterial capable of being sealed and severed in a manner described belowand preferably capable of being heat sealed and simultaneously severed.At least the upper portion 24 of the suit is preferably formed from aclear plastic material such as vinyl enabling the person to see and thelarge bag member 22 is also preferably formed from a clear plasticmaterial for enabling persons outside of the enclosure to see and assista person entering or leaving the enclosure.

The bag-like member 22 has an open end defined by a margin 30 which issealed around the periphery of the opening 14. In the embodiment shown,an adapter mem her 32 is secured and sealed to the enclosure wall 16around the opening 14 and presents a flange 34 projecting axiallyoutwardly of the opening. The margin 3d of the bag member 22 isassembled over the flange 34 and is secured and sealed thereto by meansof a large elastic band 36 or by any other desired device.

As shown best in FIGS. 5-8, a lower side 38 of the bag member 22 has anopening 40 formed therein defined by an annular section 42. The annularsection 42 is secured and sealed as at 44 to a rigid self-supportingring member 46. The ring member 46 is provided with annular grooves 48and 5t) spaced axially from each other in an exterior surface thereoffor a purpose fully described below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, elongated gloves 52 and 54 are formedintegrally with or are connected and sealed to the bag member 22adjacent the ring member 46 so that persons standing outside of the bagmember 22 may insert their arms into the gloves 52 and 54 for assistinganother person entering or leaving the room in a manner described below.

The first suit portion 24 is preferably in the form of a jacket havingintegral arm and glove sections 56 and 58 and an integral completelyclosed hood section 60. The second suit portion 26 is preferably in theform of trousers. The first suit portion has a lower annular marginalsection 62 while the second or trousers suit portion has an upperannular marginal section 64. These sections are adapted to be joinedtogether in a manner described below so that a person wearing the suitwill be completely sealed therein. Of course at least the hood portionof the suit is formed from a clear material for enabling a person to seeand both portions of the suit are formed from a sheet 3 material whichmay be sealed and severed and preferably from a heat sealable plasticmaterial such as vinyl.

Since the suit is sealed when worn by a user, a hose 66 is provided fordirecting air into the suit. The hose has one end connected with thetrousers portion of the suit and is adapted to be connected with asuitable source of air, not shown. A similar hose 68 is also connectedwith the trousers portion of the suit for exhaust purposes and isadapted to be extended to any suitable point of discharge.

It is contemplated that the upper and lower portions 24 and 26 of thesuit may be modified so as to comprise more or less of the total suit,but in any event, the first suit portion 24 is constructed so that it isadapted to traverse the opening 40 in the bag-like member 22. Morespecifically, the lower annular marginal section 62 of the first orupper suit portion 24 is adapted to be positioned over the port ringmember 46 as shown best in FIG. and to be secured and sealed thereto bymeans of an elastic band 70 selectively engageable in either of thegrooves 48 or 50. Thus when not in use, the suit portion 24 serves toclose and seal the opening 40.

The second or trousers portion 26 of the suit is initially assembledwithin the enclosing means or bag member 28 as shown best in FIGS. 4 and5. The bag member 28 has a length similar to the length of the trouserssuit portion 26. An upper marginal section 72 of the bag member 28overlaps and is sealed to the marginal section 64 of the trousersportion 26. The bag member 28 is preferably formed from a heat sealableplastic material.

As shown best in FIG. 5, a ring member 74 is disposed in the spacebetween the bag member 28 and the suit portion 26 prior to the sealingof the marginal sections 64 and 72, which ring member carries an annularheating element 76 and is adapted to function as one part of a heatsealing and severing mechanism. The electrical heating element 76 isconnected to a wire 78 which passes through a suitable seal 80 in thewall of the bag 28. The wire 78 is adapted to be connected with anysuitable source of electricity not shown.

In addition to the heat sealing annular bar or ring member 74, aplurality of coils of the hoses 66 and 68 are positioned within theannular space between the bag member 28 and the trousers suit portion26. These hoses respectively extend through suitable seals 82 and 84 inthe walls of the bag member 28 and are adapted to be connected to asource of air and a discharge point respectively. The length of thecoils of the hoses is such as to permit a person to walk freely to anypart of the enclosure or room The bag member 28 and the suit portion 26may be assembled with each other and with the heat sealing bar and hosesin a sterile or uncontaminated atmosphere after all of the elements havebeen decontaminated so that the exterior surfaces of the trousersportion 26 and of the hoses will be maintained in a sterile ordecontaminated condition. Alternatively, a sterilizing fluid or gas maybe introduced into the bag 28 through a tube 86 after all of the partshave been assembled or the part may be heated for a sufficient time to asufficiently elevated temperature for insuring sterilization ordecontamination of the exterior surfaces of the suit portion 26 and thehoses. Of course, after the sterilization or decontamination process hasbeen completed, the tube 86 is closed by means of a clamp 88 or anyother suitable device.

In order to enter the chamber 10, it is contemplated that a person willstep into the open upper end of the trousers portion 26 of the suitwhich has first preferably been positioned adjacent the opening 40 inthe bag-like member 22. Then the person will put on the jacket portion24 of the suit, which procedure requires that the person cause the upperportion of his body to enter through the opening 40 and the ring member46. Then the person should grasp the heat sealing annular ring 74through the bag member 28 and lift the ring so the ring is positionedagainst the seam provided by the marginal sections 64 and 72 of the suitportion 26 and bag member 28 respectively. If necessary, the person inthe suit may be aided in this and the additional operations describedbelow by assistants projecting their arms into the glove elements 52 and54 in the bag member 22.

As previously indicated, the annular ring member 74 and heat sealingelement 76 provide one portion of a heat sealing mechanism. Thismechanism includes a second annular member 90 which is positioned withinthe bag member 22 and around the suit portion 24 for alignment with thering member 74 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Preferably an annular flexibletube 92 is mounted so as to project from the bottom surface of the ringmember 90 in alignment with the annular heating element 76. The tube 92is connected by a hose 93 with a container 95 of liquid, which containeris adapted to be manually raised or lowered so as to adjust thehydraulic pressure within the tube 92.

It is contemplated that after a man has entered the suit and the heatsealing bar 74 has been raised as shown in FIG. 5, the complementary bar90 should be clamped down toward the bar 74 either manually by the manin the suit or the aforementioned assistants or with the aid of suitableclamping devices such as C-clamps not shown. The fluid pressure in theflexible tube 92 assures that uniform pressure will be applied to thematerial clamped between the rings 74 and 98. Then upon energizing ofthe heating element 76, the marginal sections 62 and 64 of thecomplementary suit portions 24 and 26 and the marginal section 72 of thebag member 28 will be heated and sealed together and then severed asshown in FIG. 6 so that the suit portions 24 and 26 are provided with anannular sealed seam 94. At the same time the suit portions are separatedfrom outer edges of their respective marginal sections and from the bag28 and the outer edges of the marginal sections and the bag 28 arejoined together to provide an annular sealed seam 96. Furthermore theheat provided by the Wire is sutficient to sterilize the seams '94 and96 and particularly the edges thereof which are exposed to the interiorof the room.

When the seams 94 and 96 have been formed in a manner as describedabove, the ring members 74 and 90 of heat sealing mechanism may be movedto a lowered position within the bag member 28 and the person in thesuit may step upwardly through the ring members and then through theopening 14 into the room or enclosure 10. Of course, during suchmovement, the hoses 66 and 68 will be pulled outwardly from the bag 28along with the person as shown in broken lines in FIG. 2. It is furthernoted that even though the upper portion 24 of the suit is severed fromthe ring member 46 surrounding the opening 4-0, the opening 40 remainssealed by the bag member 28. Furthermore, the person within the suit isat all times sealed from the atmosphere within the chamber 10 and theonly surfaces of the suit, the hoses 66 and 68 and the heat sealingmechanism which become exposed to the interior of the chamber or room 10are those surfaces which have previously been sterilized ordecontaminated.

When the person desires to leave the room 10, the procedure partiallyshown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is followed. More specifically, the person walksback through the opening 14 in the enclosure and steps into the opening40 in the bag member 22 and more specifically through the ring members74 and 90 of the heat sealing mechanism and into the bag 28. Beforedoing this, however, the person picks up another top suit portion 24afrom a stack or supply 98 of such suit portions maintained in a sterileor decontaminated condition within the room 10. The additional suitportions 24a are identical to the suit portion 24 and need not bedescribed in detail.

The person leaving the room, possibly with the aid of the aforementionedassistant, causes the lower end of the suit portion 24a to be insertedthrough the ring member 90 whereupon the lower marginal section 62a ispositioned around the ring member 46 and over the previously describedmarginal section 62. At this time care is taken to see that the previousmarginal section 62 is secured to the ring member 46 by the elastic band70 engaging in the upper groove 48. Then the marginal section 62a issecured to the ring member 46 by a second elastic band 700: engaging inthe lower groove 50. When this has been accomplished, the elastic band70 is manipulated for releasing the marginal section 62 as shown in FIG.8 whereupon the'person is free to move outwardly from the bag member 22.This may be accomplished by ducking down through the ring member 46 orby lifting the ring member 46 up over the head of the person or by acombination of both actions. It is, of course, apparent that thisprocedure enables the person to leave the chamber 10 while the chamberis maintained in a sealed condition at all times.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described herein, it is obvious that many details may be changedwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. An apparatus for enabling a person to enter and subsequently leave anenclosure having a sealed port for continuously maintaining said port ina sealed condition, comprising means defining said port, a suit for saidperson and including initially separate complementary first and secondportions, said first suit portion including a peripheral margin andsealed and secured to said port defining means and serving to seal saidport, said second suit portion comprising a peripheral marginconnectable to said first mentioned margin for completing the suit,means initially enclosing exterior surfaces of said second suit portionand including .a margin sealed to said margin of said second suitportion, enclosing means defining a sealed space around the exteriorsurfaces of said second suit portion for enabling the second suitportion exterior surfaces to be maintained in a decontaminatedcondition, said margins of said enclosing means and said second suitportion being positionable against said margin of said first suitportion after a person has put on both of said suit portions, and saidmargins being scalable together and severable for joining said suitportions to each other and for separating said suit portions from saidport defining means and said enclosing means and for joining saidenclosing means with said port defining means for enabling a person towalk freely through said port while leaving a port in a sealedcondition.

2. An apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and secondsuit portions and said enclosing means margins are formed from a heatsealable plastic material.

3. An apparatus, as defined in claim 1, which includes a supply of saidfirst suit portions within said enclosure for enabling a person withinthe enclosure to remove a first suit portion from said supply and securesaid last mentioned suit portion over said port defining means and saidenclosing means for thereafter enabling the person to disconnect theenclosing means from said port defining means and thereby exit from theenclosure while maintaining the port in a sealed condition.

4. An apparatus, as defined in claim 1, which includes an air supplyhose connected with said second suit portion and extending through saidenclosing means for connection to a source of air.

5. Apparatus, as defined in claim 4, which includes a plurality of coilsof said air supply hose initially disposed within said enclosing means.

6. An apparatus, as defined in claim 4, which includes an exhaust hoseconnected with said second suit portion and extending outwardly throughsaid enclosing means.

7. An apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein said 6 enclosurecomprises a flexible sheet material member adjacent said port, and aglove element joined with a sheet material member and extending inwardlytherefrom an opening exteriorly thereof for enabling an assistant toextend his hand into said glove element for assisting the personentering the enclosure.

8. An apparatus for enabling a person to enter an enclosure, comprisingan annular member defining a port in said enclosure, a first sheetmaterial traversing said port within said enclosure and including anannular margin sealed to said annular member, said first sheet materialmember serving to seal said port, said first sheet material member beingadapted at least partially to envelop a person entering said port, asecond sheet material member complementary to said first sheet materialmember for combining therewith for completely enveloping a personentering the chamber, said second sheet material member having anannular margin, a third sheet material member enclosing exteriorsurfaces of said second sheet material member and including an annularmarginal portion sealed to said annular marginal portion of the secondsheet material member, said third sheet material member defining asealed space around the exterior surfaces of said second sheet materialmember for enabling the second sheet material member exterior surfacesto be maintained in a decontaminated condition, said margins of saidsecond and third sheet material members being positionable against saidmargin of said first sheet material member When a person is fullyenclosed by said first and second sheet material members, and saidmargins being sealable together and severable for joining said first andsecond sheet material members and separating them from said third sheetmaterial member and from said port defining annular member and forjoining said third sheet material member with said annular member.

9. An apparatus, as define-d in claim 8, wherein said sheet materialmembers are formed from a heat sealable plastic material.

10. An apparatus, as defined in claim 9, which includes a pair of ringmembers respectively initially disposed in said enclosure and withinsaid third sheet material memher, said ring members adapted to bealigned for clamping said margins therebetween, and one of said ringmembers carrying a heating element for heat sealing and severing saidmargins.

11. An apparatus, as defined in claim 10, which includes an annularfluid filled flexible tube mounted on the ring member opposite from saidheating element for promoting the application of uniform fluid pressureto said margins during a heat sealing operation.

12. A method enabling a person to enter an enclosure having a sealedport while continuously maintaining said port in a sealed conditioncomprising sealing said port with a first portion of a suit for saidperson, enclosing a second suit portion complementary to said first suitportion in enclosing means having a margin and joining the margin ofsaid enclosing means to the margin of said second suit portion andthereafter maintaining exterior surfaces of said second suit portion ina decontaminated condition, enclosing said person in said first andsecond suit portions, and thereafter sealing said margins of said firstand second suit portions and said enclosing means together and severingsaid margins and thereby joining said first and second suit portions andseparating them from said enclosing means and simultaneously joining theenclosing means with said port defining means.

No references cited.

MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

B. S. RICHMAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR ENABLING A PERSON TO ENTER AND SUBSEQUENTLY LEAVE ANENCLOSURE HAVING A SEALED PORT FOR CONTINUOUSLY MAINTAINING SAID PORT INA SEALED CONDITION, COMPRISING MEANS DEFINING SAID PORT, A SUIT FOR SAIDPERSON AND INCLUDING INITIALLY SEPARATE COMPLEMENTARY FIRST AND SECONDPORTIONS, SAID FIRST SUIT PORTION INCLUDING A PERIPHERAL MARGIN ANDSEALED AND SECURED TO SAID PORT DEFINING MEANS AND SERVING TO SEAL SAIDPORT, SAID SECOND SUIT PORTION COMPRISING A PERIPHERAL MARGINCONNECTABLE TO SAID FIRST MENTIONED MARGIN FOR COMPLETING THE SUIT,MEANS INITIALLY ENCLOSING EXTERIOR SURFACES OF SAID SECOND SUIT PORTIONAND INCLUDING A MARGIN SEALED TO SAID MARGIN OF SAID SECOND SUITPORTION, ENCLOSING MEANS DEFINING A SEALED SPACE AROUND THE EXTERIORSURFACES OF SAID SECOND SUIT PORTION FOR ENABLING THE SECOND SUITPORTION EXTERIOR SURFACES TO BE MAINTAINED IN A DECONTAMINATEDCONDITION, SAID MARGINS OF SAID ENCLOSING MEANS AND SAID SECOND SUITPORTION BEING POSITIONABLE AGAINST SAID MARGIN OF SAID FIRST SUITPORTION AFTER A PERSON HAS PUT ON BOTH OF SAID SUIT PORTIONS, AND SAIDMARGINS BEING SEALABLE TOGETHER AND SEVERABLE FOR JOINING SAID SUITPORTIONS TO EACH OTHER AND FOR SEPARATING SAID SUIT PORTIONS FROM SAIDPORT DEFINING MEANS AND SAID ENCLOSING MEANS AND FOR JOINING SAIDENCLOSING MEANS WITH SAID PORT DEFINING MEANS FOR ENABLING A PERSON TOWALK FREELY THROUGH SAID PORT WHILE LEAVING A PORT IN A SEALEDCONDITION.